Braces and a Busy Week!

Last weekend, Luke had a baseball tournament. Saturday was freezing, almost literally, in the morning. The wind chill was in the 30s. Not baseball weather and not Florida weather! The Sunday was even worse, with a steady wind. I knew if I went I would get a cold sore, so I opted to sit those games out. The team played well and ended up finishing the tournament in second place. While they did that, I took the girls out to get lacrosse cleats. We had fun driving the new car.

On Monday, I had a doctor's appointment. Thomas took Luke for a consult with an orthodontist. He was expecting just the consultation and the "come back in a year" kind of visit. However, the orthodontist said that Luke needed to get braces right away. He had a tooth removed last year and his dentist didn't put a spacer in, which screwed up the spacing in his mouth. Thomas saw the xrays and felt the orthodontist was being honest about the urgency. Luke's quick consult turned into getting braces right then and there. It was crazy! I think Luke was in shock. He said maybe it was good that it happened the way it did because he didn't have much time to worry about it. 

Holding Thomas' hand for moral support. There wasn't room for Thomas to stay in the back for long and he felt sad leaving Luke alone.

He chose pink for his first bands, his favorite color.

When the big kids got home and saw him, they were shocked. So were his classmates and teammates. Everyone wondered why he hadn't told anyone. It was because he didn't know! He is sad that he didn't know his last gummy bear would be his last gummy bear, at least for the next couple of years.  Anna is still in her braces, so our oldest and youngest are both in braces. Anna is hopefully on the home stretch. Luke is seeing our fourth orthodontist. The first was in Maryland, no issues, that was really retainer, pretreatment stuff. Then, we had the one here. He did great for Kara and Jack, but we didn't like how he handled Anna (blogs have been written on that topic). Anna saw another one here, and we have minor complaints, but nothing significant. However, it is a bit of a drive, so we wanted to try someone closer for Luke. We found this one and it had great reviews, so we scheduled the consult. So, that is the story of 4 kids, 4 orthodontists. Let's hope Luke's treatment goes smoothly! 

Lacrosse tryouts were all week. They were over 2 hours long every day after school. Considering they get to school at 625 and the practices ended at 5, it was very long days for the girls. They mostly enjoyed it. We found out today they did not make Varsity. They have never played, so that wasn't a huge surprise. It looks like they will be on the JV team. We are excited to see how it goes.

Jack had band practice after school on Tuesday. He went to conditioning for track on Thursday and Friday. Unfortunately for him, while track ended up 4:30, he had to stick around until the girls finished. Track tryouts are Monday, the 29th.

Thursday, I had to go to Lakeland for my dad. He had been in the hospital and was being discharged. I had to do a lot of running around to get things set up for him. There was a huge stress moment when the place he was going said that he wasn't financially eligible. He is paying out of pocket (he has used up his Medicare days) and they had told us the day before that he had to pay for 35 days in advance, which totaled over $12K. I had gotten the check, brought it to them and they said they would arrange for his hospital discharge. It is the same place he lives. His permanent home is in the assisted living facility, but this was to stay at their nursing home/rehab. Anyway, after I dropped off the check, I got back to the hospital and they called to say they wouldn't take him after all. Ultimately, they did take him, and I still don't know what created the disconnect, but it was stressful. 

My Aunt asked for a selfie :)

Today, Saturday, Luke, Anna, Thomas and I went to Volcano Bay. I love going to a waterpark in January! Last weekend it was so cold and today the high was 80. Weather is weird! We had a great time. 

2024 is off!

I am not sure how to describe the start of 2024. Good? Bad? A mix I guess. First, remember how I said that I hoped that this would be a year with no big house expenses. Well, we already have a $3800 plumbing bill due to blocked pipes and tree roots and the need to do a power flush. I know I have said it before, but I'll say it again--if we ever buy another house, I am looking for new construction! 

The kids didn't go back to school until January 9th. Thomas took off their entire break and I took off a good portion. I still have a few years until I get the more robust time off, so I have to be more careful with taking extended periods, especially with the two vacations we have planned this year. Thomas and the teens went to a movie at City Walk one day while I was working. The girls saw the Hunger Games movie and the boys saw Aquaman (Luke stayed home with me). They all enjoyed the movie they saw. Friday we all went to Epcot, but it was very crowded and we didn't stay long. I don't remember if we did anything over the weekend. 

Monday, January 8th, the last day of winter break, the girls and I went to Magic Kingdom. We had a very fun day. We ate lunch at Columbia Harbour House, which would never be the boys first choice (seafood), but we liked it. The only bad part of the day was the line for Jingle Cruise. It said 35 minutes, but it ended up being over 70.  I understand they are estimates, but that was crazy. The first 40 minutes the line moved well and then it just stopped. I think someone else must have taken over the Genie+ line and had a higher ratio of Genie to standby. I kept texting Thomas that I thought it would be another 10 minutes. I ended up sending 3, "probably just 10 more minutes" texts before we actually got on the ride. It was not worth it. But, other than that, the day was fun. And, we actually had fun playing games in the line, so it wasn't all bad. After we were done at Magic Kingdom, we decided to walk around the Polynesian. I thought they would still have their holiday decorations up, since the park was decorated, but they did not. We still enjoyed seeing the resort.

Magic Kingdom was still decorated.

Back to school/work has not been fun. I wish we were independently wealthy and could do volunteer work instead of a regular job. I know that we are fortunate and I have no reason to complain, but it is definitely hard to go back to work after a nice break! 

The girls are gearing up for lacrosse tryouts. Last year they took everyone who tried out, but there appears to be more interest this year and a new coach, so they don't know what to expect. We keep saying the only guarantee is that if they don't tryout they won't make it, so what's the harm? They have been spending a good amount of time trying to learn the game.

Everyone was off for MLK Jr. day and we enjoyed the long weekend. Friday night, the girls, Thomas and I went to Universal. It was very quiet. We rode Hagrid's with just a 30-minute wait (posted was 50). I think we just hit it at the right time, because we thought about riding again, but the time had increased to 70 and the line was much longer.

Hanging out with Milhouse

That Saturday, I took Jack and Kara to the library. We love the massive library in downtown Orlando. I was surprised when we got there that a bunch of streets were blocked off. We had to finagle our way around to find parking. It turns out there was a parade. It didn't occur to me that the MLK parade would be Saturday and not Monday. We got our books and then watched most of the parade. It was pretty fun and maybe next year we will go intentionally. The most interesting part was the coca-cola float. They gave us a 10-pack of some limited edition soda, 2 small bottles of ginger ale, and a cranberry sprite zero (loved it!). It was random, but fun. I did enjoy seeing the floats with the MLK Jr quotes and feeling like we were doing something to honor his memory on his weekend. I wonder what he would think of the United States today?

In really big news, we bought a car! A Tesla. They had an end of the year deal and with the tax credit, we decided to go for it. It is a Performance Model 3, which Thomas thinks feels like a sports car. It is definitely different, in a fun way, to drive. It has one pedal driving, where you never really have to use the brake. If you lift your foot off the gas pedal, the car comes to a stop. It will take a little getting used to, but I like it. The best part is that there is no noticeable shift as it moves through gears, it is super fast and super smooth. We kept the Clarity, which will be the kids' car. We are a three car family now. Fortunately, we were able to pay off the van before buying the Tesla, so still just one car payment. It would have been nice to have no car payments for a while, but yolo right?

Picture to end, Luke finally got a haircut. We went to Tijuana Flats one night and one of the kids noticed he looks a bit like Eleven from Stranger Things :)

NYE and 2023: A Year in Review

 For NYE, we had our traditional cheese fondue.  Luke and I went jogging together in the morning and Kara and I went for a walk that night. Some of us played Ticket to Ride. I got thwarted one too many times and was a pretty sore loser. Thomas beat Anna by a slim margin, I believe just 2 trains. Thomas, Luke and Kara stayed up to welcome in the New Year. They watched Madagascar and the ball drop in NYC. I went to sleep, but woke up at midnight with the sound of fireworks all around and was able to wish them a happy new year. I felt a little bad not staying up, but I was tired.

Now, it is 550am on the first day of 2024.  Happy New Year! The house is quiet and I am ready for the reflection that this yearly post requires. Once I hit "publish" this post will be the first in my 14th year of writing! It was more fun to write when the kids were small and every day felt like an adventure. Our lives are very different now than they were in 2011. I don't even know if it is being dramatic to say the world is very different, but after COVID and Trump that is how it feels. When I started writing, we had 3 kids 3 and under, had just gotten out of the military and I was starting my new life as a stay-at-home-mom. Now it is 4 kids 16 and under and I am 6 years into my career as a civilian (Thomas is 12). Who know what the next 13 years will bring? I wonder if there will still be a blog in 2036 when it is probably just Thomas and I living at home?

I just wasted 20 minutes writing that short paragraph, in part because I went and read my very first post. Time to be a little less introspective and a little more productive.

We only had one vacation in 2023, which is unusual for us, but was fiscally required after another year with major investments in the house. This year it was a new pool screen and water heater. We have put a lot of money into home repairs/upgrades since living here. Hopefully 2024 will break that trend (fingers crossed!). Speaking of which, we have now been in Florida almost 5 years! If I remember, I will do a 5-year anniversary post in May.

Our one trip was to DC and Williamsburg, our 16th birthday gift to Jack and Anna. It was a great trip that we talk about often. It was a little sad to be tourists at places that we frequented as locals, but it was still great to spend time in the area. We did not do any cruises, although at one point we were booked to do two, three if you count the anniversary one Thomas and I did not take. I think Anna has probably forgotten that we also cancelled a Spring Break cruise, so hopefully this post doesn't make her too annoyed (the girls are two of my few readers). 

Other major happenings included Kara starting high school and Thomas having surgery.

I debated not doing the individual summaries this year, but I am going to give it a try, although I am skipping the three words:

Anna: As mentioned Anna is now 16. She is a sophomore in high school and doing really well. She started the year with great skating ambition and was able to participate in two competitions. Unfortunately, her coach left the local rink and the distance became too much for us, so she hung up her skates. It has been a few months of no skating, which I know is still hard on her. Hopefully, she at least enjoyed the time it freed in her schedule and our Wednesday night Disney adventures. She is doing well in school, but is hard on herself. Sometimes, it is justifiable (like when she doesn't turn things in on time) but other times I think she compares herself to Jack or Kara, which isn't fair to anyone. By all empirical data, she is a talented, gifted student. She is often helpful and has an amazing sense of humor. She is also introverted and is often reluctant to try new things. But, she has gotten better at advocating for herself and even at doing small things that were previously challenging (like asking for a drink refill at restaurants). 

Kara: Kara is 14 and in 9th grade. She ended 8th grade with theater being a big part of her life and social identity, but hasn't participated much in high school. She made the transition to high school fairly easily and has a lot of friends. She can be impatient and snarky at times. She really enjoys music and the highlight of her year was getting to see her favorite artist, Lana Del Rey, in concert. She is adventurous and does not like being at home. She has started almost every day of break with a "do we have any plans today?" Along those same lines, when school is in session, she texts almost every day with the same question, "what's for dinner?" She has started an exercise routine and has found that she enjoys running. She wants to be a vegetarian. She doesn't want to get married or have kids, but does want to have a dog one day. She is a good student and gets straight As. 

Jack: It has been a good year for Jack. He is also 16 and a high school sophomore. He enjoys school and learning in general. He had straight As for Freshman year and is on track to do the same this year. He still loves history and old music, like Elvis. He can be a little impatient with his siblings, especially Kara, but he is working on it. He has enjoyed band more this year and is very social. When he was little (before elementary school) he was incredibly friendly and outgoing. Then, he became quieter and much more introverted. Now, he is back to be social and friendly. He is very helpful and regularly does things around the house without us asking. He is polite and gentlemanly (opening doors, carrying things, etc.). 

Luke: Luke is in 4th grade. He is very smart and was again chosen for Battle of the Books. He still loves baseball and had a good year as a member of the Leones and then the Vipers (mostly same kids and coaches, different name). We sometimes struggle to get him away from electronics, he especially loves Rocket League. He can be very hard on himself and struggles with resiliency, although he has made improvements, at least at school, this year. He gets along well with his classmates and teachers. He is a homebody, unless the activity involves playing sports. It is hard to believe that he will start his final year of elementary school this year! 

Thomas and I: We celebrated 20 years of marriage in 2023, I am sad that we had to cancel our cruise. However, I love Thomas and am happy for the years behind and the years ahead, regardless of how we celebrate. Thomas still doesn't like his job, but he does like working mostly from home and I think he likes it a little more than he did when we first got here. He is mostly recovered from his arm surgery. Unfortunately, the surgery didn't seem to fix all the problems with his arm that we had hoped it would address. He enjoys baseball (counting down the days until Spring Training begins) and being the pitching coach for Luke's team. For me, not much is new. This year has been my most challenging in a while. Work has been stressful and the transitions with my Dad have been difficult. Since I write this blog from my perspective, I think all of that is well-covered.  

What everyone enjoyed most this year:

Jack: DC, particularly the Capitol building

Anna: the DC trip

Luke: the DC trip, especially the day at Busch Gardens

Kara: Lana Del Rey concert

Thomas: seeing Mount Vernon again and riding GOTG for the first time

Kori: the day at Busch Gardens and the day we went to Epcot and all rode GOTG together and ate around the world.

Now, the year ahead. 2024 will have at least two vacations. We have our traditional Spring Break cruise and a 13-night epic trip that includes three days in Seattle, two in Vancouver, and an Alaskan cruise! Only Thomas has been to any of those places, so we are all super excited; although Anna would have preferred Europe, Hawaii or even California. It will be our longest vacation ever, and has required a lot of planning, but I think it is mostly sorted out; we have our hotels, cruise, excursions, and flights booked. We still need to figure out exactly what we are doing in Seattle and Vancouver, but I think we have the general idea and there can (maybe) be some room for spontaneity. 

What everyone is looking forward to this year is our trip to Alaska. Luke also said his birthday and hitting double digits. 

My wish for 2024 is the same as every year. I hope we end with good health and happy memories!

PS-it is now 7:44. This is the hardest to write post every year and definitely takes the longest, even with no pictures. But, I am sure I will be happy I did it when I reread it next January.

The Week After Christmas (repeat post)

Rereading my blog, it bothered me that I had all of this in one post. So, I am separating it out. 

The rest of the week (after Christmas Day) was not as exciting. We had another (mostly) relaxing day on Tuesday. Thomas and I went out in search of wrapping paper and we took Luke to the batting cages. 

Wednesday we all went to Lakeland to visit my dad and to work on moving some of his stuff. After Lakeland, we went to Winter Haven to visit with Marta and Frank. We got to meet their new, giant dog, Buddy, We played Uno, shared gifts and had pizza. It was a good visit for all but Luke. He was playing outside with Buddy, when Buddy got a little rambunctious and knocked Luke over and then mouthed his arm (as puppies do). Luke, justifiably, felt like he was being attacked and let out a terrifying, blood curdling scream. The surprised puppy got banished behind closed doors for the rest of our visit and Luke eventually recovered from the traumatic encounter. While I know Luke was never in any danger (Buddy was clearly playing and the mouthing didn't leave any marks), I can only imagine what it felt like from Luke's perspective and I am sure he will be more careful in how he plays with Buddy in the future.

A big Buddy.

Kara wants a dog like Buddy and even devoted an instagram story to him.

Thursday was another day (mostly) at home. I did have a bit of mental breakdown. On Wednesday one of the things we moved was my dad's tv and somehow we broke it. I don't understand how, because Thomas literally took it off the wall, wrapped it in a blanket and used a dolly to wheel it over to his new room where he remounted it. But, somehow the internal screen got cracked. My sister sent the text to tell me, so we had to buy him a new tv. This was frustrating for a multitude of reasons. One, I didn't want to spend that money. But, two, it felt so demoralizing. All the effort to help and do the move ourselves and I broke a door in his apartment that we will also have to pay for and then the tv. It truly felt like no good deed goes unpunished and I kind of lost it. Fortunately, my dad will never know my reaction, but Thomas, Jack and Anna sure got an earful. I hurt my foot kicking a box, cried, and carried on like a crazy person for about 10 minutes. I would have loved to just hire movers, but we didn't even know what would fit and we had no plan for the furniture we couldn't take and as mentioned in previous blogs, a very, very short window to get him settled. Pretty sure my reaction was the result of all that stress. But, it was still over-the-top.

Friday, I spent the day in Lakeland finishing up the move with Kim. We thought it would take about 4 hours, it took 8 (well, 7 since we took a lunch break). Then, the drive home was miserable. I really hope it is all done, but it may not be. I am sure everyone is sick of reading about this and I am tired of writing about it, so I won't go into details, but I kinda sorta exchanged some words with the business office over the protocol for vacating his old apartment. In short, we didn't do it properly, but my response was they should have returned my numerous phone calls and then maybe I would have known better. We will know next week if it is all resolved.

Now, it is 430am. I went to bed at my normal time and then woke up at midnight and never fell back asleep. I had three Coke Zeros at lunch, so that is probably the biggest reason why, but I am also still stressed about my dad. We have to liquidate his investment accounts and I am worried about how that will work and making sure it is done on time to pay for his care. It is almost $6000/month for where he is living and I had to sign the agreement as his power of attorney. I did not agree to financial responsibility, but I still feel responsible for making sure he has a place to live and I am worried about what will happen if we can't liquidate in time to pay for upcoming months.  I am so tired of trying to manage this (and to be clear, my sister is actually doing most of the work).